Continuing the Story of Bob and Cathy

Continuing the Story of Bob and Cathy

Picking up where we left off… talking with Bob and Cathy who have graciously agreed to share a little of their story as they wrestle with the challenges of downsizing. They are in their mid 60s, close to retirement, have moderate savings and have lived in their 4br, 3.5ba, 3500 +/- sq ft home for more than 25 years. Their kids are grown and they’re ready for a smaller, less expensive, single level home near the beach.

As Bob says: “Part of what we’re struggling with is the enormity of change. It’s not just about money and tax questions. When you change your home, you change everything and that’s not easy to do at our age”.

Cathy: We’ve been here for a long time and there are so many things we love about our house. We’ve worked hard to make it exactly what we want. But suddenly it seems like we are only using half of it. I know Bob is tired of keeping up the yard and I’m not going to be able to do the stairs forever. We’d really like to travel now, while we have the chance.

Bob: I wish there was some way to do this in small increments. It seems like too much change too fast. We don’t know where to start. Almost every aspect of our daily lives revolves around our house and moving will disrupt all our normal routines. When I was in my 20s or 30s all I needed was a backpack and a credit card and I was good. These days it’s different.

Cathy: The more we talk about moving, the more complicated it seems. There are days when I just want to give up the notion of going anywhere and just stay here and see what life deals us down the road.

Bob: But we know that moving is something we have to do. We’re not getting any younger and we’re not going to be able to stay here forever. We might as well do the heavy lifting now while we have the energy and the wherewithal. Why wait until one of us breaks a hip to start the process?

Cathy: Yes, Change doesn’t get any easier the older we get. We still have a lot of time to enjoy life so we might as well get on with it.

Sound familiar? This is the same conversation that’s happening in individual homes all around the country these days. As I’ve said many times, real estate isn’t as much about buying and selling houses as it is about life transitions and how human beings adjust to change.

Next Week: More from Bob and Cathy